Richard Hamming: how to do a great job

Read the interview of this remarkable scientist here . If you do not have the opportunity / time / desire / ... to do this, I suggest you familiarize yourself with its peculiar digest in the hope that it will encourage you to get acquainted with the full version.

1. Do meaningful things in this life, do not expect another
2. Luck favors the prepared mind (quote from Louis Pasteur)
3. Have the courage to believe in yourself, think for yourself and go forward.
4. Plant small acorns so that mighty oaks grow out of them (meaning ideas)
5. People are often most productive when conditions are bad.
6. If the problem is not solved, try to look at it from a different angle, turning its disadvantage into an advantage.
7. You must neglect many things if you intend to do what you want.
8. Just a little hard work; he must be guided wisely
9. You need the right balance of certainty and uncertainty - if you are too sure, you will never notice the flaws; if in doubt, don't move
10. You must be emotionally attached to your idea.
11. If the problem is not solved - do not let the center of attention shift from it, use the subconscious to solve
12. If you want to do a great job, ask yourself - what are the important tasks in your industry? What tasks are you working on? Unless you are working on an important task, it is unlikely that you will do an important job. This is absolutely clear.
13. The problem can be solved only if there is an approach, idea, method of its solution
14. One of the main tricks is to live long!
15. The one who works with the open door is interrupted all the time, but from time to time he also receives guidance on what the world is and what could be important.
16. People who work with closed doors often work harder
17. It's not about what you do, but how you do it.
18. You should do your job so that others can build on it (their work)
19. A bad worker who blames his tools; A good person takes up work with what he has and gets the best solution that can
20. It is not enough to do the work; need to sell it
21. Efforts to make something of themselves seem valuable in their own right.
22. Learn to work with the system, put it in your service, and not just fight it
23. Dress according to the situation
24. Laughter - yes, anger - no. Angry is not directed there
25. You should look at the positive side of things instead of the negative
26. Look for people who encourage you to think and work
27. Before reading about solving a problem, try to solve the problem yourself.
28. Change your work area every 7-10 years
29. Management or research? Choose the path, but for the sake of all that is holy, be aware of what you have done and what you have decided. Do not try to do both.
30. Form around you the appropriate environment for your ideas.

Go and do a great job!